


more like groan inish

by lallybyrne



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Laura Hale, Alpha Derek, BAMF Lydia Martin, Birthday, Birthday Party, Buffy the Vampire Slayer References, Insecure Stiles Stilinski, M/M, MCU References, Misunderstandings, Selkies, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2016-05-07
Packaged: 2018-06-01 03:20:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6498790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lallybyrne/pseuds/lallybyrne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>HEY HEY IT’S THE SELKIE! (https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/81/08/86/810886fd3ba7225dfe4aa8be67d89689.jpg)(people say he selkies around!)<br/>Yes the name is very on the nose, but I love Irish names and supernatural creatures are rarely subtle (Ronan - little seal, McNamara - hound of the sea)</p><p>I’m picturing this in a faux-cannon world a couple of years after season 2 - Boyd and Erica are, obviously, alive, so is Laura because I love fanon Laura and wanted to include her, Cora is with her in New York going to NYU and kicking ass on her roller derby team on the weekends, Jackson is in London but still skypes with Derek once a week, and the baddies our gang faces are much more Scooby-Doo than terrifying, psychologically scarring demons. </p><p>I've been staring at this in google docs for...a long time, and decided that posting it as a WIP is the best way to motivate me to polish up the last couple of chapters, so here goes! Expect updates weekly, the finished product will be about 8 chapters depending on a couple of decisions I have yet to make. </p><p>You're all welcome for the truly terrible title. It's honestly the best I came up with, which says...not great things about my talent as a writer or my sense of humor, but  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯</p><p>Come find me on tumblr (lallybyrne.tumblr.com) and yell at me if I'm not posting regularly!</p>
        </blockquote>





	1. hey hey, it's the selkie

“Why does he insist on patrol on school nights. Honestly, it’s like we’re asking for this kind of shit to happen.” Stiles walked backwards brandishing his baseball bat, pacing side to side behind the semi-circle of werewolves trying to block him from the shoreline.

“Shut  _ up _ , Stiles.” Erica snarled, and whipped her head around just in time to see Isaac leap into the water, claws out, and fall flat on his face into the waves.

“You ok there, buddy? I think that was just a wave.” Stiles tried to hold back a laugh, and Scott glared back at him.

“Stiles. Not helping. Derek said there was something out here. We have no idea where he is, we have no idea what we’re looking for and we need to concentrate before -” 

Scott stopped short as Erica gasped. Ten feet from where Isaac had launched himself into the water, a man strode out of the sea. He was drenched, wearing only a pair of low cut jeans, and he was beautiful. 

“Um, guys? Are we all seeing the same thing?” Stiles sounded unsure, and Scott was still staring at the man with his jaw dropped.

Boyd looked around at his packmates and stifled a snort. Erica was suddenly standing up much straighter, pressing her chest out. Scott’s feet were still planted in the same spot, but one hand was reaching up towards the man. Isaac’s eyes were darting between Scott and the stranger and he was almost vibrating in place, torn between which of the two to step towards. Stiles didn’t hesitate at all, and was taking advantage of the pack’s distraction to inch towards the water. 

Boyd grabbed Stiles by the collar and yanked him, stumbling, back through the sand. His spluttering protests broke the spell the rest of the pack seemed to be under.

“What the - who are you?” Scott caught himself halfway through the question and tried to deepen his voice.

“Hello,” the man said with a smile, and Boyd was grateful he still had Stiles’s collar as he felt his friend’s knees buckle. “I’m Ronan. Ronan McNamara. You must be Derek’s friends.”

“Where is Derek?” Isaac was the only one who seemed suspicious of the stranger, though whether that was instinct or just jealousy over Scott’s reaction was hard to say.

“What’s the bat for?” Ronan stepped fully on to the sand, and started walking towards where Boyd still had a hand on Stiles’s shoulder.

“It’s...uh...we were on patrol and lost touch with Derek and he said he was...uh...on the beach. I mean, we came to find our friend, and I just...I thought…better safe than sorry”

Ronan chuckled. “Always be prepared. Like the boy scouts. Though, I guess you’ve grown out of boy scouts by now, huh Stiles.” He looked Stiles up and down, and Stiles shook off Boyd’s hand and took a step forward. 

“Hah, yeah, I guess I’d be an Eagle Scout now, which always seemed cool, but the levels before that when you’re in highschool and still a boy scout seem pretty lame, maybe that’s why Eagle Scouts is so elite, because you have to run the gauntlet of being a nerd before you can get there, separating the wheat from the cha-mmf.” Boyd wrapped his other hand around Stiles’ mouth and ignored the immediate, disgusting sensation of Stiles licking his palm.

“Where’s Derek?” Boyd tried to insert some authority into his voice, and Erica and Scott tensed at his tone.

“I haven’t seen him, sorry. I was waiting for someone more interesting to come around.” Ronan looked back at Stiles. “Why don’t your friends go search for Devin and you and I can take a walk and get to know each other a little better.” He winked, and Boyd dropped his hand from Stiles’ face in shock.

“Derek. It’s...it’s Derek. And, uh, ha, thanks for the offer, but I feel like we should find him? Are you sure you didn’t see him? Tall, dark, broody, probably wearing leather? Actually his stubble is a lot like yours, you two could probably exchange shaving tips when we figure out where he scampered off to…”

“Come on, Stiles. We could have so much fun together.” Ronan’s smile turned up a few watts, and he grabbed Stiles’ arm and started pulling him forward. The second he touched Stiles, Isaac roared and sprinted towards them, grabbing Ronan by the neck and lifting him in the air. As soon as Isaac moved, Scott and Erica snapped out of it and ran towards them. 

Ronan smirked down at Isaac and kneed him in the stomach. Isaac immediately dropped him and fell backwards into Boyd, knocking him over. Ronan grabbed Stiles and threw him over his shoulder, covering enough of his body with Stiles’ that Scott and Erica couldn’t get any good swipes in. Ronan started running back towards the water carrying Stiles. 

The pack followed, charging into the water behind them, and immediately fell into chaos. Ronan was darting back and forth, not standing still enough to be caught. and Erica and Isaac kept crashing into each other when they swung at him. Scott was standing behind the group, eyes flickering around furiously while he tried to figure out a plan of attack, and Boyd was moving too slowly through the water to even take a swipe.

Before they could get more than a few feet out there was a sharp whistling noise in the air and Ronan stiffened up and dropped Stiles. He clambered away out of the water as fast as he could, and Ronan turned around, laughing.

“Well played, little archer. I didn’t mean to cause any fuss, I just think Stiles would be happier here with me. Stiles, you’re more than welcome to come back without the puppies any time and discuss it. See you soon, babes.” Ronan shifted down into the water, and the pack saw a glimpse of smooth fur before he disappeared from view.

“What.” Stiles stood up out of the water and turned towards the pack, bewildered.

“What is wrong with you idiots! What if we hadn’t gotten here? You were about to let Stiles become that selkie’s husband because you couldn’t figure out how to take down one not particularly violent creature! What on earth were you thinking?” The pack stumbled back to shore while Lydia yelled, and by the time they met in the center of the beach she was winding down. She pulled Stiles into a sopping wet hug.

“Where’s Derek?” Allison asked, strapping her bow to her back.

“We don’t know. We got here, and that guy came out of the water and started hitting on Stiles, and then...that happened. We haven’t found him and it doesn’t smell like he’s been here for at least an hour.” Scott looks bewildered. “Lydia, what did you say he was?”

“A selkie. Irish seal shifters, no idea what one is doing in the Pacific ocean, but they woo people to become their spouses so that they can live on land. Usually it’s to have children, so I’m not sure why he started with Stiles…”

“Yeah, it was bizarre, he just immediately started talking to Stiles and pretty much ignored the rest of us.” 

“Thanks Isaac, yeah, why on earth would hot seal-man want me with all these fine specimens around.” Stiles rolled his eyes.

“Stiles, that’s not what he meant, it’s just...if he wants to make babies, he should have gone for me, right?” Erica grinned at Boyd’s scowl.

“And if he wants someone to come rule his seal kingdom, or whatever, another shifter probably makes more sense, even if he is into dudes, you know?” Scott looked at Stiles apologetically.

“Whatever. More pressing issues! Where is Derek? Ally, Lyds, did you hear anything else from him? I assume most of our cell phones are out of commission…” Stiles grimaced and pulled his drenched phone from his pocket.

“No, nothing else. Is there any way the selkie could have incapacitated him?” Allison turned to her girlfriend.

“Not physically. Selkie’s aren’t particularly strong, but they have incredible force of will - they can talk people into almost anything if they aren’t mentally prepared to resist them.”

“So, should we check the house and see if he’s there?” Boyd looked around, shrugging, and everyone started moving towards their cars. 

“You can all ride in the Jeep, I don’t want anyone getting my car sandy and wet. We’ll meet you there, Scott can take my cell phone and call Allison if anything happens on the way.” Lydia grabbed the phone out of her purse and tossed it to Scott.

Stiles beat the girls back to the new Hale house through sheer force of will, and kept up with the werewolves as they ran through the door. 

Derek was sitting straight up in the center of the couch, perfectly still and staring at the dark TV.

“Shit, he’s broken.” At the sound of Erica’s voice, Derek whipped his head around and seemed to snap out of whatever trance he had been in.

“Why are you all wet?” he growled, half standing up off the couch.

Stiles burst out laughing and collapsed into one of the stools at the kitchen island.

“Dude, you totally got selkie-mind-zapped. We were all patrolling, you texted us telling us there was an emergency on the beach? Any of this ringing a bell? How did you let Hottie McCreepface brainwash you!”

“What.” Derek thumped back on to the couch and looked at Scott for an explanation. Luckily, Lydia and Allison walked in.

“How are you feeling? Any dizziness? Disorientation?” Lydia went to Derek and grabbed his chin so she could look at his eyes, then looked him up and down once and nodded. “You should be fine, physically. What’s the last thing you remember?”

“I feel fine. I remember…” he grabbed his phone and starts scrolling through texts “I remember following a strange scent to the beach, and texting you to meet me there, and then...and then you guys walking in.” 

Derek went pale, and thudded back down on the couch.

Boyd sat down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s been about two hours since we heard from you. It smells like you came straight here from the beach. We got there, and a man came out of the sea and tried to take Stiles. Allison shot him and he left. Lydia says he’s a selkie, and he would be able to talk you into leaving without remembering anything.” Derek jumped up halfway through Boyd’s explanation and stalked over to Stiles. Pulling him up off the stool, he started scenting his neck and frantically looking him up and down. 

“Did he hurt you?” 

Isaac snorted out a laugh, and Derek whipped his head around to glare.

“Sorry, sorry. But he’s fine. The selkie wanted to take him into the sea to make him his weird seal husband, apparently.” 

Derek felt Stiles tense up as Isaac spoke.

“It was bizarre - he came out of the water looking insanely, immensely fuckable” Boyd rolled his eyes at Erica’s tone “and started hitting on Stiles like a frat guy at last call. Then he threw him over his shoulder and tried to kidnap him, and that’s when Ally came to save the day.” Derek didn’t notice his grip tightening around Stiles’s biceps until Stiles patted his hip.

“It’s ok, big guy, I’m all in one piece. And seriously, a guy could develop a complex! No need to sound so shocked that hot seal man wanted all up on this!”

“Of course, man, you’re a catch! It’s just…” Scott looked pained “I mean, maybe he needs a human to make whatever his magic is work?”

“Maybe he needs someone who wears only clothing sold at Hot Topic.” Scott turned to glare at Isaac, who shrugs unapologetically. 

“Rude, Isaac. Though, sweetie, if you ever want to go shopping, you know I’m here for you.” Lydia turned to look at Stiles, and Derek winced at the pitying look on her face. He realized that he was still holding Stiles’s arms, and quickly dropped his hands to his sides. 

“More importantly -” Derek recognized the “serious pack business” tone in Lydia’s voice, and the mood in the room instantly sobered “you were embarrassing. If Allison and I hadn’t shown up when we did Stiles could have been kidnapped.” She turned to Derek. “Their attacks were completely unorganized, and Scott was just standing there. Something needs to change.” 

“If Isaac had gotten out of my way I would have taken care of him no problem!” Erica immediately said.

“I was the only one to realize something was off about the guy, and if Boyd had gotten off of me faster I could have been in the water so much faster, and I would have gotten him.”

“I was just trying to make sure Stiles didn’t leave with the guy.” Boyd piped in from the back of the room.

“You were lumbering around like a wet bear, babe, it was embarrassing.” He scowled at Erica’s comment, and she smirked and whirled around to face Scott “And at least we were all doing something!”

“I was trying to figure out how to get at him without hurting Stiles!” Scott protested.

Derek looked back at Stiles, who was hunched over shivering on the stool, and felt his eyes turn red.

“STOP!” he roared “ENOUGH. It sounds like you were all a disaster. The selkie should never have gotten Stiles in the water in the first place. You left your packmate in danger, and fighting about who is more at fault won’t fix that. Allison sounds like the only one who was thinking out there. We need to start training harder, and better. I will not allow Stiles, or any of you, to be put in danger like that again.” The wolves had all gone silent the moment he started speaking, and the humans looked equally cowed. Stiles was still shivering, but had started blushing - he was staring at the ground but Derek could see that the tips of his ears were bright red. 

“I agree we need to change up some of our training exercises, but should we save this for the pack meeting next week?” Allison chimed in, sounding apologetic. “It’s almost two in the morning, and we all have school tomorrow…”

“Thank god my dad’s on night shifts this week.” Stiles straightened up and hopped off the stool, grinning. “At least tomorrow’s Friday! And then it’s the weekend! A weekend for which I am very, very excited, and I know you all are too, because it’s going to be awesome! Am I driving you home, Scotty?”

Scott looked at Isaac. “No thanks, bro, I’m gonna crash here. I’ll see you at school tomorrow though.” Scott and Isaac followed Boyd and Erica where they were already walking up the stairs towards their bedrooms.

“Sweet dreams, amigos! Lyds, Ally, drive safe!” Stiles turned to call out to them as the door closed behind them. He turned back to Derek, still smiling, and Derek wasn’t sure he would ever understand what went on in Stiles’s head to create these whiplash moods.

“Are you sure you’re ok?”

“Absolutely. I’ve had worse nights than a hot guy being super into me, even if he is a creepy, kidnapping seal-guy. Are you alright? The whole mind-control, losing-time thing is terrifying. I’m sure nothing bad happened, or anything, but it’s still freaky, you know?”

“I’m fine.” Stiles looked skeptical, and Derek wanted to stop him from pressing the issue, because he felt...less than fine. He felt shaken, and vulnerable, and exhausted. “You’re cold. You should shower, I can get you some clothes to wear. You can stay here if you want.”

“Thanks, man, but I should sleep at home. My dad will be back at six and he’ll be freaked out if I’m not there. A shower sounds amazing though, if you don’t mind.”

Gathering up a pair of sweats and a henley for Stiles and leaving it outside his bathroom door had become a routine after various scrapes. Derek liked being able to provide for Stiles like this - he seemed to be a magnet for messy, dangerous situations in a way none of the others, human or not, ever had been. Derek wasn’t sure if it was bad luck or Stiles’s natural propensity for jumping in front of danger whenever it threatened the pack, but they were lucky it usually only ended in bumps and bruises.

Derek was glad, in these moments, that his sisters weren’t around. He missed them fiercely, and looked forward to their calls and Skype sessions and visits to an embarrassing degree, but they knew worlds more about pack customs than any of the bitten wolves. They would know that it was unusual for Derek to be so comfortable with Stiles in his space, wearing his clothes, especially when Isaac or Scott could provide things that would probably fit better. 

He couldn’t explain it, and he knew the conclusions they would jump to. It’s not his fault Scott’s annoying, mouthy best friend happened to be exactly his type (the resemblance to Paige was uncanny - Laura had laughed out loud when she and Stiles finally met). He hadn’t sought out Stiles, and no one could claim he wasn’t a strong addition to the pack, and Derek’s sisters were the most annoying people in the world. 

Derek knew he had to avoid telling them about tonight, if only to spare himself the inevitable jokes about his jealousy. He grabbed Stiles’s dirty clothes, laid his wallet out on the counter to dry off, put his cell phone in a bag of rice (that was always sitting in a kitchen drawer ready to try and dry out whoever’s cell phone was the casualty of the week), and put the jeans, shirts, and hoodie in the wash. He only put them in with his laundry because he needed to wash some things anyway and there was no point wasting water. If he added a little less detergent than usual so Stiles’s scent would mingle with his sheets, well, his sisters weren’t around to notice. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY HEY IT’S THE SELKIE! (https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/81/08/86/810886fd3ba7225dfe4aa8be67d89689.jpg)(people say he selkies around!)  
> Yes the name is very on the nose, but I love Irish names and supernatural creatures are rarely subtle (Ronan - little seal, McNamara - hound of the sea)
> 
> I’m picturing this in a faux-cannon world a couple of years after season 2 - Boyd and Erica are, obviously, alive, so is Laura because I love fanon Laura and wanted to include her, Cora is with her in New York going to NYU and kicking ass on her roller derby team on the weekends, Jackson is in London but still skypes with Derek once a week, and the baddies our gang faces are much more Scooby-Doo than terrifying, psychologically scarring demons. 
> 
> I've been staring at this in google docs for...a long time, and decided that posting it as a WIP is the best way to motivate me to polish up the last couple of chapters, so here goes! Expect updates weekly, the finished product will be about 8 chapters depending on a couple of decisions I have yet to make. 
> 
> You're all welcome for the truly terrible title. It's honestly the best I came up with, which says...not great things about my talent as a writer or my sense of humor, but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Come find me on tumblr (lallybyrne.tumblr.com) and yell at me if I'm not posting regularly!


	2. Chapter 2

Friday was miserable. Everyone was exhausted and cranky after their late night. Allison had gotten in trouble for being home so late, and had been stressed enough about it that she bombed an English pop quiz. Lydia spent the entire day torn between trying to make Allison feel better and glaring at the werewolves to try to guilt them into submission for whatever her new training plan was going to be. And Stiles was bouncing off the walls.

“Bro, my mom has told you like a hundred times that you can’t take extra adderall just because we have late nights, it’s not good for you.”

“No extra adderall, my friend, just an appreciation for this fine spring day. The flowers are blooming, the weather is perfect. It’s Friday! It’s almost the weekend! And not just any weekend, obviously, but a weekend in which -”

Stiles stopped short as Scott slammed his head down on the cafeteria table, barely missing Stiles’s plate of slowly congealing mac and cheese.

“Stiles. I love you. But my head's killing me and I can feel Derek brooding - you reek of him by the way - and I haven’t seen Isaac all day and I think I just need to nap for ten minutes, ok? I’m sure this weekend will be great, but today is the worst.”

Stiles’s face twisted in sympathy, and he grabbed a hoodie from his backpack to shove under Scott’s head. 

“I’ll wake you up before the bell, sorry bro.”

PACKCHAT  
Yr Fave: Anyone wanna hang out tonight?  
#1 Pup: srry man work then dinner with mom i’ll see you for sure tmrw tho  
Ariel: Sorry babe, date night, but we’ll be around tomorrow too.  
Catwoman: I’m gonna go to bed early, need my beauty sleep for the weekend.  
Iceman: No.  
Yr Fave: :D no prob, bobs, CAN’T WAIT FOR TOMORROW!!!111!1!!!1!!1

Derek had resigned himself to the fact that his phone contacts (and ringtones and background) would never be his own. He doesn’t know when Stiles finds the time, but every time he got a new phone or tried to switch things to their factory defaults, Stiles changed everything within 24 hours. He’s half convinced Stiles has some sort of remote access to his phone, and when Derek brought up the possibility to Isaac and Scott they just laughed nervously and said something about how even if Danny had figured that out Stiles would never use it for anything nefarious, and they were sure it was just a harmless prank, even though obviously there’s no way Stiles had that setup, because that would be crazy! Derek should probably add some sort of lying training into their rotation. 

He reads the text thread and decides his input wasn’t really necessary. The pack usually ended up at the house by 10 on Saturday mornings and spent the day together. Boyd, Erica, and Isaac had their own rooms - Isaac lived there full time and Boyd and Erica were there more nights than not. Scott spent most weekend nights with Isaac. After Derek set up a shooting range on the property, Allison ended up coming around much more often and bringing Lydia. After a couple of months, Lydia got bored of just hanging out with everyone, and made it her mission to restock the Hale’s supernatural library. Between her own research and materials solicited from packs and emissaries all over the world, the room was slowly starting to look as full as Derek remembered it being before the fire. 

Stiles usually came over as soon as he woke up, bouncing around between video games with Scott, research with Lydia, and combat training with Allison and Derek. By the end of the day they almost always piled into the living room together to watch movies and eat takeout. Derek loved the routine they’d settled into, and had decided not to think too much about what it would be like when the pack left for college. This is the problem with biting teenagers - their futures are unstable, and sometimes he worries that the life he’s carved out for himself is too boring for any of them to want to stay. 

This Saturday was the same as the 25 before it, but Derek still felt uneasy. Scott and Isaac were playing some racing based video game in their boxers on the couch, Derek could hear Erica and Boyd talking softly upstairs, and Lydia and Allison arrived at 10 with a couple of new books from Allison’s father and went into the library to read through them and index as much information as possible. 

Derek puttered around the kitchen, making sure the coffee was fresh and trying to focus on the murder mystery he was reading. The anxiety was making it impossible to focus, and eventually it seemed easier to put the book back on the shelf. It’s not like he needed to keep going to know who killed Roger Ackroyd. 

He, Boyd, and Erica were sitting on the couch halfheartedly watching Scott and Isaac’s game when they all perked up at the sound of Stiles’s jeep a mile up the road. It was past noon, hours later that Stiles usually showed up, and Derek refused to think about the fact that his nervousness was rapidly dissipating the closer Stiles got to the house. Isaac noticed him relaxing at the noise and smiled a little smugly at Derek, but Derek ignored him. 

Stiles stumbled through the door already talking. He smelled like his father, but also like bacon. Usually Stiles didn’t allow anything but turkey bacon in the Stilinski house, which Derek only knew because he insisted on keeping a stash of the real stuff at the Hale house in case he got a craving. But today he smelled like bacon and eggs and cheese and fancier coffee than usual. Before Derek could figure out why, he realized that Stiles had been talking for almost a minute.

“ - it’s going to be SO GOOD and Sebastian Stan has the BEST FACE and this is the BEST DAY and oh god he and Chris have been giving the cutest interviews about it -”

Stiles had been talking about this movie for weeks, and Derek still wasn’t quite sure why it was so exciting. Apparently Beacon Hills had won some contest for an advanced screening, but the movie was coming out for real in a couple of weeks, which didn’t seem like too long to wait to avoid insane fans and a three hour wait that still didn’t guarantee a seat in the theater. Lydia and Allison heard the commotion and walked out to the kitchen arguing quietly about harpies.

“- and the timing is so perfect, it’s like the universe is looking out for me and wants be to be happy for once. Maybe this is my karmic reward for all the bullshit we’ve been dealing with this year!” Stiles was still babbling on in the kitchen while he made himself a sandwich, and Derek looked around and noticed that none of the pack was really listening to him. After a few more minutes, Stiles realized no one was paying attention.

“Yo, guys! As I was saying! I think we should leave at like two? The movie doesn’t start until six but there are a lot of us and I want to make sure we all get tickets. We can bring snacks and games and stuff, it’ll be fun! Who’s in!”

“No.” Derek decided it was best not to elaborate. They’d be fine without him, and the idea of standing in a loud, crowded mall for four hours honestly made him a little queasy. 

Stiles scowled at him, but looked away when he saw Derek meeting his eyes.

“Stiles, you know I love you, but that sounds absolutely miserable. We should go see it when it comes out for real, and we can get tickets online and sneak in twizzlers and not waste a whole day waiting for a movie that’s probably not going to give us Stucky anyway.”

Boyd chuckled at Erica’s response and nodded. “Yeah, I’m out. Sorry man.”

Stiles looked confused, and Derek didn’t understand why. Did he really think anyone would be up for hours of standing in line, especially after the exhausting week they’d all had?

“Sorry, but I have absolutely no interest in the MCU anymore.”

Allison nodded along with Lydia, adding “I’m boycotting until we get a Black Widow movie. Plus it’s Saturday, I don’t want to sit around inside all day.”

Stiles looked genuinely upset, and turned to Scott and Isaac, who were jostling each other's shoulders as they raced down Rainbow Road.

“Scott, man, we’ve been talking about this for weeks! You’re still coming, right? Come on, it’s a big day!”

“Sorry, bro,” Scott replied, not pausing the game “I promise I’ll come with you to see it opening night though, yeah? I have to kick Isaac’s ass, and that line sounds awful. We don’t even know if we’d get tickets!”

“So no one wants to come with me to the movies today.” Stiles was staring, shocked, around the room, and suddenly stopped and tilted his head. “Oh. Wait. So no one wants to come with me to the movies today, and you’re all going to hang around at the house without me all day.”

“Um, yeah, I guess that’s the plan?” Isaac didn’t turn to look at him, still trying to knock Scott off the track on the screen.

Stiles smiled at Derek, and Derek stared back trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

“Come on, oh Alpha my Alpha, you wouldn’t leave me to go see this movie all by myself, would you? I’ve been texting with Cora about it all day and she’s super jealous, you should go so you can rub it in her face! We can wait and leave later, if you want. Though if you need me out of the house for whatever reason” he winked “we can leave earlier too.”

“Fine.” Derek replied with a sigh. He’s not sure what Stiles’s whiplash mood was about, but he had seemed devastated at the idea of not going to the stupid movie, and if it was just the two of them maybe the crowd wouldn’t feel so overwhelming. “I’ll go with you. But we’re not leaving until 4, and if the line is too crazy we’re not staying. And you all -” the pack snapped to attention, Isaac and Scott looking up from the screen, and Derek took a brief moment to feel proud of how much they respected him “make sure everything is ok at the house.”

Stiles broke into a full-on grin at the comment, and Derek was pretty sure that he would never understand what went on in his head.

“Awesome! This is gonna be great! Karmic reward, back on track!” Stiles grabbed his soda and plopped down on the couch, resting his head on Scott’s shoulder and still grinning. Derek went to grab his book, and resolutely did not think about why he was ok with wasting his day to make Stiles happy. 

 

“You’re going to break the window if you don’t stop flailing, Stiles, and I will make you pay for it. With interest.”

“Dude, how are you NOT freaking out. That was amazing! That was perfection! Black Panther! SPIDERMAN! Holy shit I can’t believe everyone else ditched out and now they have to wait a month, what nerds.”

“Yup. They’re the nerds.”

“Shut up, I heard you cheering for Giant-Man.”

Derek turned, ready to raise an eyebrow at Stiles, and couldn’t help but smile back at the face-splitting grin on Stiles’s face. 

“Is the Jeep still at the house, or am I dropping you off at home?”

Stiles’s grin fell a little, and he stared at Derek for a moment before replying.

“Uh, it’s still at the house. I figured if everyone else was still over I’d hang out for a little bit? It’s still pretty early…”

Derek didn’t understand why Stiles sounded so unsure. The minute the house was finished (actually, the minute the living room and the kitchen were finished), the whole pack had pretty much moved in. Derek couldn’t even pretend to be annoyed, just made everyone keys and tried not to look too fond when Stiles got everyone personalized keychains. He only kept his because the bright yellow of Wolverine’s costume made his keys easier to find in the dark.

“Yeah, sure. I’m sure they’re all still there, I went grocery shopping yesterday.”

Stiles snorted a laugh, and looked more relaxed than he had a minute ago. The further into the Preserve they got the more Stiles started to fidget again, and by the time they pulled up to the house he was practically vibrating in his seat. He unbuckled his seatbelt before Derek had the car fully in park, and he sprinted up to the door before Derek was even out of the car.

Following after him, slow and unsure, Derek listened for the other pack members in the house. He could hear Boyd snoring, which meant Erica was probably in bed too, and it sounded like Isaac and Scott were still playing video games. He didn’t hear Allison or Lydia, and Lydia’s car was gone, so presumably they decided to spend the day out like Allison had seemed to want earlier. He made it into the house to find Stiles in the kitchen, sitting in a stool facing away from the living room, his back to Derek. 

“Hey Derek, how was the movie?” Isaac turned when he noticed Derek walk in. Derek looked at Stiles, waiting for him to jump in with his effusive review, but Stiles sat, pushing himself back and forth on the stool, silent.

“Uh, it was pretty good. Not as crowded as I thought it was going to be. Stiles really liked it…”

Stiles still didn’t turn around, and if they hadn’t been wolves Derek, Isaac, and Scott wouldn’t have been able to hear the soft “Yeah.” that seemed to be aimed at the kitchen floor.

Derek looked over at the couch, and Isaac and Scott looked back at him, bewildered. Scott stood up and took a few steps over towards the kitchen, pausing in the middle of the living room. “Hey, man, you ok?” Derek looked back at Stiles and watched his shoulders tense. He smelled like disappointment, and sadness, and embarrassment, and Derek had no idea what could have possibly happened between the car ride and this moment to make Stiles so miserable. 

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. Just exhausted. I’m gonna go home. I’ll see you Monday.”

Stiles stood up quickly, pinching the bridge of his nose, and turned to leave. Derek raised his hand to grab Stiles’s shoulder so he could demand answers as to why Stiles sounded and smelled like he was about to burst into tears. Stiles brushed past him and walked purposefully out the door, and Scott, Isaac, and Derek silently listened as he walked to the car, slammed his fist on the steering wheel once, and drove away. 

“What the hell happened at that movie, Derek?” Scott looked pissed and confused, and Derek was pretty sure he had the same look on his face.

“No idea. He was fine all day, couldn’t wait to get back here and brag about how awesome it was, and then...that.”

“Why didn’t he stay?” Isaac stood up and walked over to the kitchen.

“Yeah, he’s taken over our games without asking a million times before. I thought he was going to stick around and play.” The anger had fallen away from Scott’s face, and he just looked sad.

Derek had no idea what was going on, but he felt restless and confused and still angry at whatever had upset Stiles so much. “I’m going for a run. I’m sure he’s fine, we’ve all had a rough week.” 

Derek didn’t wait around for his betas’ responses, just walked towards the back door pulling off his shirt and trying to figure out what could have ruined Stiles’s day so quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :( 
> 
> but also how excited are you for civil war?! i am V V V excited (though i also want stucky and a black widow movie)


	3. Chapter 3

The pack had settled in to having pack meetings on Monday nights with a minimum of complaints. Spring semester of senior year meant most of the extracurricular commitments that had kept them from having a set night of the week in the past were winding down, either because they already knew where they were going to college and didn’t feel the need to pad their applications anymore (Lydia, Allison, Boyd, and Stiles) or because they were coasting through with a minimum of effort until graduation (everyone else).

Meetings were always a little more tense after a supernatural encounter, and Derek was still unsettled from Stiles’s behavior Saturday, but it felt good to have the whole pack in one place. Everyone was healthy and accounted for, and settled into their usual bickering and catching up while they waited for someone (it was a 50/50 split between Derek and Lydia, most days) to call them to order. Stiles, Erica, and Isaac were happily scarfing a giant bag of Doritos and swapping sodas every other sip, Allison and Lydia were cuddled on the couch talking quietly, and Scott and Boyd were standing in the corner looking through Derek’s DVD collection for something to put on once business had been discussed.

“What are we doing for graduation?” Erica asked the room, speaking up to get everyone’s attention. “My parents are bugging me about plans, and I assume we’re going to have some kind of group gathering?”

“My dad’s been asking me too. Lyds, I told him I thought you might be hosting a party but he said if not he’d be happy to have everyone and their families to grill out that afternoon.” Stiles replied.

“Hm, I like the idea of a cookout, but I’m happy to host at my place - the pool will be open by then, which would be nice. I’ll have to call my parents and see when they’re planning on coming back. Hopefully they’re out of town until that week so I can plan unimpeded. I assume everyone will be bringing guests? Let me know headcounts as soon as you can so I can start planning food and drinks.”

“Thanks, Lydia, but I’m not gonna know for a while whether my dad can make it. I mean, graduation’s not for like two months, right? He usually doesn’t have his schedule this far in advance, and cases pop up at the last minute all the time…” Scott looked around at the group, tilting his head in confusion.

“Graduation is in three weeks babe,” Isaac smiled gently at him. “It’s the middle of April.” Derek chuckled and turned to look at them, noticing that Stiles had stiffened on the couch and was staring at his hands.

Scott, pale as a sheet, fell back on the couch. Isaac jumped up, whining high in the back of his throat, and grabbed Scott to check for some sort of injury, but Scott was turned towards Stiles. He stared until Stiles looked up, and Derek flinched at the look on Stiles’s face - he was smirking but it didn’t come close to reaching his eyes, which looked suspiciously damp. The whole room went silent except for Isaac’s whining, and Derek was about to ask what the hell was going on, when - 

"Someone care to fill us in on why Scott looks like he just saw a ghost?" asked Lydia.

"Dude, I'm so sorry, I’m the worst friend -" 

"It's not a big deal, please don’t, it's just -" 

"Oh, SHIT!"

The interjection came from Erica as she stood to pull Stiles into a bone-crushing hug.

"Seriously, did someone die?" Boyd looked as confused as Derek felt, and he was grateful for the question.

"No - Jesus Erica, I can't breathe, though I appreciate the thought - it's really not a big deal at all, there's no need to freak out...Saturday was my birthday and I guess these knuckleheads just remembered." The wry smirk was firmly plastered on Stiles' face, and as Erica pulled away the scent of embarrassment and misery hit Derek.  

The room was silent for about 10 seconds, and then everyone started talking at once.

"Holy shit, and I bailed on the movie -" 

"Batman I'm so sorry, I don't know how I forgot - " 

"Stiles, sweetie, we're going to make it up to you this weekend, Allison and I will plan the party of the century and -"

"No.” said Stiles firmly, and the whole pack deflated. “No, guys, honestly thank you, but it's fine," (they could all hear the lie) "we've all had a lot going on and I totally understand how it fell through the cracks." Derek noticed that this part was true. "I'd rather just forget about it. You can make it up to me by designated driving for my 21st." The joke fell flat.

"Why did you let us all ditch you for the movie? If you'd reminded us we all would have come," Boyd said.

Stiles was staring firmly at the ground, opening and closing his mouth, and Derek realized what he had thought.

"He thought there was a surprise party." 

Stiles looked up sharply, hurt and anger finally wiping the fake smile off of his face.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Derek, thanks for that." 

Scott started whining miserably on the couch, and everyone else stared at Stiles.

“Guys, seriously, it’s ok. We’ve had a lot going on lately, I barely remembered it myself. Can we please move on, we really don’t need to talk about this anymore. I really don’t  _ want _ to talk about this at all. We  _ should _ be talking about selkies, because I almost didn’t live to see the weekend and I’d prefer to make it to 19 without being dragged into the ocean and forced to become someone’s seal-husband.”

Lydia, staring at Stiles thoughtfully, stood up and faced the couch.

“Stiles is right, we need to talk about what happened last week.” He looked at her gratefully, and she continued, “That was embarrassing, the way we behaved. We’ve been a pack for over two years now, and anyone watching our performance fighting that selkie would have thought we didn’t know each other at all. I know we’re not used to fighting in the water, and I know we weren’t expecting an attack, but we need to be more prepared than that.”

Derek let her talk. He’d become much more comfortable letting his betas take the lead when they wanted to step up, and Lydia was especially talented at this type of post-attack analysis. Their pack was much more casual than any he’d known growing up, but if he ever needed to formally declare a second it was comforting to know that the whole pack would approve of his choosing Lydia.

“We’ve gotten too comfortable. We haven’t had any real problems in Beacon Hills in a long time - no, Boyd, the pixies don’t count, they’re annoying but they’re not an actual threat to anything but my cuticles - and we’ve forgotten how to work as a team. I think, if Derek approves, that we should start working on a playbook. We should have strategies in place that we’ve practiced, contingency plans for different types of danger, so that if we’re ever caught off guard again we won’t have to waste time arguing over what the best course of action is.”

“Yes,” Derek agrees, “I think it’s a good plan. Lydia, do you have an idea as to how we would implement it?”

Lydia nodded sharply at him, a small grin forming on her face as she realized he’d completely handed her the reins.

“By next week I think we should each have come up with a list of our strengths and weaknesses, as individuals and as a group. I’ll start a group google doc with separate spreadsheets for everyone that can be anonymously edited. Add comments about yourself and others, and then next week we can go over the lists and start to formulate plans based on what everyone thinks.”

Erica started complaining about how she had enough homework without Lydia assigning her more, and then started yelling at Boyd when he pointed out that it wasn’t a bad plan. Soon enough the whole pack was bickering about how long their lists had to be, what format they should be in, and who put Lydia in charge anyway.

Stiles sighed and slumped down in his chair, playing with the tab on his Coke, and didn’t seem to notice Derek skirting around the edge of the room until he was sitting down in the armchair next to him.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you, I just - I realized what it must have seemed like, once everyone bailed on the movie, and you were acting so strange when we got back, and I - I’m really sorry Stiles.”

Stiles looked around to make sure the others were still bickering, and turned to face Derek.

“It’s fine, man. I’m sorry I snapped at you. It was dumb of me to think that’s what was happening. Between the almost-drowning and the end of the semester I don’t know when I thought anyone would have had the time to plan anything. Scott usually remembers, is all, and then when everyone was being such a dick on Saturday I got my hopes up, and...well, whatever. I’m 18, it’s not like I need party hats and streamers anymore, right?”

Stiles chuckled self-deprecatingly, and Derek couldn’t think of a single thing to say. He stared at Stiles, trying to come up with the right words, trying to figure out how to tell him that of course he should have a party, that Scott was an idiot, that the whole pack loved him and cared about him and the weekend was a stupid oversight. Everything he came up with sounded too cheesy, or too fake, or too intense.

Stiles smiled at him, and Derek hated it. It was the smile he had when he was resigned to something, when he thought that whatever was happening was the best he deserved. Derek wasn’t sure when he learned to categorize Stiles’s smiles, and he especially wasn’t sure when he started caring so much about eliciting the real ones, but he was sure he didn’t want Stiles to feel like that. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, just to put a different expression on Stiles’s face, but before he could speak Lydia snapped her fingers and the room went silent. 

“That’s enough. It’s a good plan, you all know it’s a good plan, and it honestly won’t require that much work. God only knows this last month of classes is mostly filler unless you have AP tests, and that’s just Stiles, Boyd and me. No one’s expecting a novel, just a few bullet points, and we’ll do most of the work together over the next few weeks.” Allison smiled up at her, encouraging, and Lydia’s shoulders softened. “It really will be helpful.”

“Fine. But tonight we’re watching Buffy and you can’t complain that you’ve already seen them all, because that is  _ not _ the point of Buffy-watching.” Erica jumped off the couch to grab the DVDs, and Lydia joined the group on the couch. 

Scott looked over at Stiles, and Derek could see that he still felt terrible. Moments like this reminded Derek that he was never meant to be the Alpha - his mother or his sister would have worried about Scott, but Derek couldn’t help but take a little satisfaction in the fact that Scott clearly felt as bad as he should about letting his best friend down. 

“Stiles gets to pick the episode.”

“Thanks Scotty, that means a lot to me.” Stiles paused, considering. “You know, I’m in the mood for some early slayage. What if we watched some season one?” He paused again, and Derek thought it looked like he was trying to fight a grin, though he couldn’t imagine why. “Oh, I know! We can have a theme night, let’s watch The Pack!”

Everyone stared at him, dead silent. Stiles looked around for a second, staring at each of his friends individually, and finally burst into laughter.

“Oh god, you guys should have seen your faces! I know you feel guilty, but I like to think someone would have stopped that train before we actually had to sit through that monstrosity! Jesus, if I ever suggest that seriously you can assume that I’ve been possessed again. Thanks for the offer, bro, but I’m up for whatever as long as there’s no Riley. Season 3 maybe?”

Derek was pretty sure he could feel the sigh of relief from the whole pack in his bones, and as they started bickering over which episode to start with he leaned back in his chair and tried to sneak a look over at Stiles. He was sitting cross-legged in the armchair, a feat Derek could never understand, and the smile on his face looked a little more genuine than it had earlier. He still didn’t look happy, though, and Derek felt an uncontrollable urge to fix it. He’d want to fix it if any of his pack members were upset, that’s what being an alpha was all about. The happiness of the pack was paramount, and Stiles definitely didn’t warrant any special treatment. He thought if he repeated it a few more times in his head it might start to sound convincing.


	4. Chapter 4

After a few episodes of Buffy, Boyd falls asleep on the couch. Once Erica noticed and dragged him upstairs, the rest of the pack started making noises about leaving or going to bed. Stiles slipped out without saying goodbye to anyone, pulling Scott away from an in depth argument with Isaac about Faith’s pros and cons so he could drive them home. Isaac headed upstairs to his room, and Derek started putting away the dishes and leftover food.

He walked from the kitchen to turn off the lights and stopped, realizing that Lydia and Allison were still on the couch. On the one hand, it was probably a good sign that he was so comfortable with his pack that he didn’t register them as a threat to his home. On the other hand, if his sisters found out about this he’d never hear the end of it. 

“We need to fix this, Derek.” 

“I think your plan is good, once we have strategies we can implement we’ll be able to deal with the selkie and whatever else comes up.”

“Cute. Of course it’s a good plan, I’m not worried about that, it’s in motion and we’ll take the next steps later. We need to fix what we did to Stiles.”

Derek knew, of course, what she was talking about, but he wasn’t sure why he was involved. In social situations like this other pack members took the lead, and he was happy to let them. He’d go where he was told, and always made an effort to buy thoughtful gifts, but the actual implementation of birthdays and graduation parties and all the other events they felt like celebrating was beyond him.

“We should throw him a party. We can make it a surprise, but I think he’d like it, and Lydia and I can plan everything.”

“It should be soon, graduation is coming up and we want to make sure it’s a separate celebration. You understand that feeling, being a Christmas baby.”

Sometimes Derek deeply resented how well Lydia and Laura got along.

“Fine. This weekend? We can do it here, if you think he’ll like that, just let me know what I need to buy or set up, I trust you.”

“Let’s not set a firm date yet - I want to talk to everyone and make sure that everyone can be here, and that we have time to make this the best party this town has ever seen. I’ll start a text thread right now, and I’ll e-mail you with your action items as they come up.”

“What if we had a pack-only dinner, and then a bigger party afterwards? I know the newspaper kids would love to come, and the lacrosse players will definitely be in, and Danny can invite the ladies from Jungle - are you ok with having a crowd, Derek?” Allison and Lydia looked up at him in unison, and it was simultaneously terrifying and impressive how efficient they could be when they had a goal they cared about.

“Sure. Whatever you think will fix this. Do you need anything from me right away, or…” Derek trailed off when he realized that they were bent over Lydia’s phone clicking things and bickering over the phrasing of a text. “OK then.”

Lydia stood up, grabbing Allison’s hand to pull her off the couch, and Derek heard his phone vibrate on the coffee table. 

“We’ll have a date set by noon tomorrow, and keep an eye on your email. I imagine it will be this weekend, we won’t have much time to coordinate but I trust that we will be able to pull this off.”

“Drive safe.”

They barely acknowledged him as they left, already deep into a debate about the merits of themed parties that Derek would have been absolutely no help with. They’d only been there an extra ten minutes, but Derek felt ten times more exhausted than he had when Scott and Stiles left. Derek picked up his phone and noticed he already had 11 texts in what looked like a group thread.

It was past 10, meaning it was 1 AM in New York, but Laura had always been a night owl and Derek needed to talk to her. He texted her asking if she was awake, and within 10 minutes he was looking at her blurry face on Skype.

“Der-bear! Everything ok? Not that I’m not thrilled to see you, but you look terrible.”

“Thanks, Laur. It’s not...life threatening or anything. We haven’t heard from the selkie again, and Lydia and Stiles are working on it.” Laura brightened up when she heard his name.

“Oh yeah, how was Saturday? I caught him on the phone in the morning before he had seen anyone and he seemed really pumped about the movie, did you guys have a good time?” Derek stared at her.

“You remembered his birthday?” 

“Yeah, of course. Between facebook and how excited he’s been all week, Cor and I even got it together enough to send cookies to his house. He wasn’t exactly happy with the card we sent, though I know he would have found it funny if he hadn’t opened it in front of his dad, and it wasn’t that inappropriate in the grand scheme of things.” Laura chuckled, and Derek put his face in his hands.

“Oh god, did he show you the card? It honestly was not that bad, you two are such prudes, you’re perfect for each other.”

“He didn’t show me the card. We...we forgot.” He peeked through his fingers and Laura was staring at him, wide-eyed.

“You forgot? It’s all he’s been talking about for a month! Wait, what do you mean ‘we’?”

“Everyone. I ended up going to the movie with him, but everyone else stayed home, and I guess he thought they were staying to throw him a party, and now he’s sad and I don’t know what to do.” Laura groaned and shook her head.

“You guys are the worst! This explains why he’s been ignoring my texts. I know you never check the internet, but how did everyone else miss it?! Scott’s been his best friend for, like, forever!” 

“I don’t know. No one realized until tonight.”

“Oh, Der.” She shook her head again and grabbed her phone, shot off two texts, and looked back up at him. “I texted him that you were a jackass and I’m not sorry.” Cora burst into the room behind Laura waving her phone around.

“Dude, you idiot, you forgot your boyfriend’s birthday?!”

“He’s not my boyfriend” Derek growled “he’s my...we’re...he’s pack, and he’s sad, and I need you two to help me fix it.” Laura stared at him, and for a moment she looked exactly like their mom, knowing and fond. He didn’t know what to do with that, so he kept talking. “Allison and Lydia think we should throw him a party, this weekend or next, but when they suggested it to him he said he’d rather just forget about it. He didn’t sound like he was lying, but he seemed miserable.”

“The girls are right, you have to throw him a party.” Laura turned to Cora, smiling. “How do you feel about a weekend in Beacon Hills?” Cora grinned back and turned to the camera.

“Perfect. Laur’s right, I’ll text Lydia and we’ll pick a date, and Laura and I will fly in, and we’ll throw the best birthday party BH has ever seen. It’s been way too long since we’ve seen your dumb face in person anyway.” Derek rolled his eyes exaggeratedly at her, but he already felt better knowing his sisters would be there soon.

“I’ll have Lydia add you to the planning text thread thingy.” Laura was texting as he spoke, and looked up at him, rolling her eyes.

“Two steps ahead of you, bro. Cora and I are on it. I’m gonna tell Lyds we should do this weekend - the sooner the better to make sure Stiles isn’t miserable, and it’s no problem for us to fly in, I think - Cor, are you -”

“Anything for Der-Bear’s favorite pack member.” Cora grinned at the screen, and Derek just sighed. 

“Is she wrong, though, bro? We’ll figure out a flight and let you know ASAP, but it’ll probably be Friday afternoon. Don’t beat yourself up too much, Der. At least you went to the movie with him, and this party will be epic. We’ll figure out how to fix it, I promise.”

Derek looked up to thank his sister, and was surprised to feel himself getting choked up. Laura was the only person who could still make him feel like he was being taken care of, and he hoped she couldn’t tell how much he relied on it. He cleared his throat and prayed the connection was blurry enough that they didn’t notice.

“Thanks. Let me know when I should pick you up from the airport.” Cora was smiling softly, and Derek figured he’d been found out. 

“Plus, maybe we’ll get to meet the hot selkie.” Cora said, excited. “The way Erica described him was...interesting.” Laura burst out laughing.

“Holy shit, did she send you all those pictures of ‘look-a-likes’ that she found? I reverse image searched one because he was gorgeous and got called in to a VERY uncomfortable meeting with H.R. If those are anywhere near accurate I hope we get a good look at him before we help you kick his ass.”

“Der, do you remember him at all? Apparently he’s your competition…”

“Shut up, Cora. I don’t remember him at all, but that’s actually a good point.” Laura snorted. “Not that, idiot. If you guys are here for the whole weekend we should go and try to see if we can at least talk to him about what he’s doing out here and see if we can get him to leave us alone.”

“My little brother,” Cora sniffled, pretending to well up “looking to be diplomatic before he tries to tear something to shreds. I never thought I’d live to see the day!”

“Four years older than you. 8 inches taller. Definitely capable of tearing someone to shreds…” 

“Ok, dumbasses, we get it. It’s late, and I’m gonna have to work crazy tomorrow and Thursday if we’re skipping town for the weekend. I’ll try to ask around and see if the Santoros have any information about selkies. I assume Lydia and Stiles have been researching too?”

“Yeah, I’ll try to gather up as much as I can, and we can work on it Saturday and head to the coast Sunday?”

“Sounds good. Don’t be too obvious, though, I don’t want Stiles to figure out we’re coming! Love you, Der, talk to you soon.” 

“Love you two, too. I’ll let you know when I hear about -” three text tones went off simultaneously.

“Lydia’s got it covered, bro. Just be ready to pick us up from the airport. Adios!” Cora leaned over Laura’s shoulder and clicked out of the Skype window. 

Derek felt much more settled now that a plan was coming together and he had specific tasks to complete. It was past 11 now, and he went to bed feeling cautiously optimistic that he could make sure Stiles had a happy birthday after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting a little early because I'm going on vacation for the weekend (!!!!!!!), which also means next week's chapter may be a little late, but hopefully not, but consider yourselves warned!


	5. Chapter 5

“Your sisters are being weird, what’s going on.” Stiles barged into the house, and Derek lowered himself off of the pull-up bar while Stiles locked the door. He turned around, paused, shook his head, and then continued. “Uh, hey. Sorry to interrupt or whatever? But, wait, yes. Your sisters! What did you tell them, they’re being weirder than usual.”

Derek paused, trying to figure out how much Stiles had figured out. His sisters’ flight was landing in less than 24 hours, and the past few days had been taken over with party planning, coordinating, and decorating, plus Lydia’s more and more irritated demands that someone besides her and Allison start working on the playbook. 

“I told them about the selkie, and they said they’d have their pack look into it too…”

“No, not that. Although yeah, that is good, and thank you. Cora’s been texting me updates and it looks like they’re going to give me access to some of their online resources which will be awesome both for whatever this problem is and whatever the next insane problem is, apparently they have hundreds of years of multiple bestiaries scanned, it’s going to be incredible, Lydia and I are talking about updating the tech situation in the library, if we can get some real computing power in there I think we can start compiling and actual universal resource so that no one will ever have to rely on mysterious emissaries and creepy uncles again, god, can you imagine if we could have mobile access to all that information - though I guess we’d have to teach you how to access shared drives on your phone, which could be a challenge, not that you’re so terrible with it anymore! I’ve been very impressed with your emoji usage lately, you’re definitely a better texter than Scotty -” Stiles stopped, and blushed. Derek had forgotten why Stiles had burst in at all, and could feel himself staring at Stiles’s mouth, and finally tore his eyes away in time for Stiles to tilt his head at him, confused.

“Dude, are you ok?”

“What? Yeah. Fine. Don’t call me dude.” Stiles chuckled and Derek felt the situation snap back to normal, thank god.

“That’s a battle you’re never going to win, it’s a reflex. Even Lydia’s accepted it. My filter is tenuous as is, I can’t control everything.” Derek sighed, smiling, and rolled his eyes.

“So, my sisters…”

“Right! So, did you tell them I was upset, or something? I mean, Laura told me you told them about my birthday, but it’s really not a big deal. They keep texting about graduation, and how excited they are to see me, and how they want to bring me graduation gifts, and whether there’s anything specifically from New York that I want, and if I don’t respond within like 10 minutes they harass me. Harris almost gave me detention in the hall today for having my face buried in my phone.”

Derek stifled a groan. His sisters were terrible, obvious idiots, and he was retroactively offended that Laura tried to warn him about spilling the beans. He was the only Hale who could keep a secret, he always had been.

“Oh. Sorry. I didn’t say anything, but you know Laura and Lydia talk all the time, and I think Isaac and Cora usually Skype on Wednesdays…”

“Oh. OK. I just don’t want this to be a huge thing, you know? I feel like an idiot that we made such a big deal about it in the first place, Scott’s always been too dramatic for his own good. We should be focusing on the selkie, anyway, and finals, and trying to make sure we all graduate.” Derek laughed, and Stiles’s shoulders relaxed. He went to grab a water bottle from the fridge.

“Want anything?” Stiles sat down on the couch and opened his backpack, pulling out his laptop and arranging himself so he could still see the TV.

“Ginger ale if you have it. Thanks. Anything you particularly feel like watching?”

Derek grabbed him the soda and joined him on the couch. They fell into their usual bickering about what to turn on - Derek maintained that Stiles should only get a half vote because he was going to spend the whole afternoon on his computer and messing around on his phone, and Stiles maintained that it was his sacred duty to make sure Derek had a pop culture diet that was more than 100 year old books and public access television. Stiles was poking Derek in the thigh with his foot while Derek argued for the entertainment value of the History Channel when someone cleared their throat from the kitchen. Derek tried to hide the fact that he jumped a little, and turned. Boyd was standing there, smirking. 

“Sorry to interrupt, guys, but Isaac and I were trying to watch the Pens game that starts in 20 - is that cool?”

“Sure, bro. There’s always room for Sid Crosby in this house.” Boyd turned to Derek, grinning.

“Yeah, fine by me. I never finished my workout, anyway.” Derek moved Stiles’ feet off of his lap and stood up to leave for a run. He turned back to Stiles, who was checking something on his computer against a text on his phone.

“I’ll tell my sisters to lay off, if you want.”

“What? Oh, yeah. Don’t worry about it. I told Laura she was being overbearing and she made fun of me and then backed off, it’ll be fine. Thanks though, I appreciate it.” Stiles smiled up at him, one of the genuine ones, and Derek smiled back, pushed past a smirking Isaac and Boyd, and started his usual 10 mile circuit through the preserve. 

When he got back it was starting to get dark out, and the Jeep was gone. Boyd was alone in the living room, and he muted the TV while Derek grabbed a glass of water.

“Where’s Isaac?”

“Went over to Scott’s for dinner - he doesn’t really care about this game.”

“OK.” Derek started looking through the fridge for something to make for him and Boyd (and presumably Erica) to eat. Their fridge was stocked with food for the dinner they were planning for Stiles tomorrow, and Derek was pretty sure Lydia would sense if he touched any of it and drive over immediately to chew him out/possibly ban him from his own home. 

“You ok with take-out tonight? I don’t want to risk using any of this.”

“Fine by me. I’ll text Erica, but I’m sure she’ll vote Thai.”

“Sounds good.” Boyd looked down at his phone for a second, and then looked back up at Derek and raised an eyebrow.

“So.”

“So...green curry for you, panang for Erica?” Boyd shook his head.

“Yes, but...should we talk about Stilinski?” Derek willed his heart rate to stay steady.

“What about him? Lydia and Allison seem to have the plans for tomorrow under control.”

“Mm-hmm. I was surprised to see him here.”

“Why? He’s here all the time. I’m more surprised Scott wasn’t with him.”

“Scott wasn’t with him because Stiles has been avoiding everyone but Lydia since Monday night.”

“What?”

“He thinks he’s being subtle about it, which is worse. He hasn’t been at lunch all week, he’s been actually paying attention in class, and he bolts after school every day before any of us can find him. He’s embarrassed.”

“I know. He mentioned again today that he doesn’t want anyone making a big deal out of his birthday. Do you think the party is a good idea?” Boyd’s phone buzzed, and he looked down at the text quickly before responding.

“Definitely. Erica’s the only one who’s texts he’s been responding to, and she thinks he’s more sad than anything. She has a whole theory about group psychological dynamics and being raised by single parents and self-esteem issues that I don’t really understand, but I’m sure she’s right.” Boyd smiled softly, and Derek felt a pang of affection for his pack of oddballs. 

“He seemed OK when he got here - he said that he and Lydia have been making some progress with the research, and he didn’t seem particularly stressed.”

“That’s why I was surprised. Though I guess I shouldn’t be.” Derek felt his shoulders tense. Erica sailed through the front door, looked at them for a moment, and laughed before grabbing a bottle of water and perching on a chair between them.

“What do you mean?”

“Whoa, chill out, boss. Nothing bad. He’s just always happier when he’s here.” 

“Oh. Good. I want...I want this house to be good for all of you.”

“It is.” Erica chimed in. She looked at Boyd questioningly, and he nodded at her. “But I think it’s more than just this house, or our spectacular company.”

“Boyd said you had some theory -” 

“No, not just that, though ‘some theory’ is not enough credit, I am absolutely right about what’s happening with him, as per usual. What I’m saying, Der, is that Stiles is always happier when he’s around you.”

“If Laura hadn’t told you I hated that nickname I bet you’d never use it again.”

“Probably.” Erica shrugged, and she and Boyd just kept staring at him, waiting for a response. Derek didn’t have one. He could barely keep up with Stiles in conversation half the time - how was he supposed to form an opinion on what was going on in his head? They were probably just reacting to the contentment Derek felt whenever Stiles was around. Stiles was just...Stiles, and Derek was sure he didn’t have any measurable impact on his moods.

“I’m his Alpha. I’m supposed to be here for him. I’m glad he feels that way.”

Erica groaned, and Boyd laughed.

“Sorry, babe. Better luck next time. You’re good with Thai?” They started discussing whether or not they wanted appetizers, and Derek tuned out, sure that they’d clue him in when they were ready to order. Erica had a knack for seeing beneath people’s facades - she was all brash and brassy in public, but she was the first person everyone in the pack went to when they had emotional issues. Years of watching quietly while everyone around her struggled through the drama of adolescence had made her especially empathetic, and she always gave practical, if terrifyingly insightful, advice. Derek was sure she must have gotten a wire crossed in this situation though. 

She and Boyd clearly though there was something going on between him and Stiles, and there wasn’t. Derek thought back to his sisters’ jokes, and felt himself blush. Clearly his feelings for Stiles were obvious to everyone in his life, and he needed to rein it in before Stiles figured it out. That was a shitty position to put Stiles in - having to turn down someone so integral to his whole social life, and it would make things in the pack incredibly awkward. Not to mention escaping that awkwardness was another incentive for Stiles (and everyone else) to leave Beacon Hills after they graduated, and Derek wanted to avoid that at all costs. 

“Derek!” He felt a hand on his shoulder, and realized Erica must have been trying to get his attention for a minute. “We’re ready to order, want us to go pick it up?”

“Sorry, yeah, thanks.” He pulled out his wallet for cash, and determinedly avoided Erica’s sympathetic eyes. Boyd clapped him on the shoulder on their way out the door.

“Don’t worry about it too much, man. We’ve got enough to do this weekend.” 

Boyd was right. There was no point worrying now, when he had to deal with his sisters and the party and making sure Stiles was surprised. He could think about his other problems after he got through the weekend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the delay!


End file.
